January/February 2015
His Message. Multiplied
APMedia: pg. 4
Helping Families In Crisis pg. 6
AN OPEN DOOR TO INDONESIA
Behind the Scenes WITH pg. 10
ALENA PALAD
The Heart of MOMS PRINCESS RAMOS’ STORY pg. 12
The Power of Coffee @Home
pg. 14
Just $5 Reaches a Family
Letter From
BILL & KIM SNIDER
Bill alongside many short documentaries sharing Christ with unreached peoples. A new media work is launching in Japan, and our reach is expanding in Indonesia.
ASIA PACIFIC MEDIA
2014 was a fruitful year for Asia Pacific Media because of your faithful prayer and giving committments to this ministry. We have had so many opportunities to partner with people across Asia Pacific. We have trained new media workers, produced new evangelistic tools and seen His Message change people’s lives. Whether it’s through Facebook, movies or YouTube, the best way to communicate the gospel is through telling stories—media is that common ground. As 2015 begins, we are seeing many new opportunities unfold for this ministry. We are developing evangelistic films for a nation where open access to the Internet and modern technology is still relatively new. Our movies will be available in several new languages. At least one movie will be produced in 2015, [2.] APMedia MISSION / apmedia.org.
We also will be focusing on producing resources to restore families in crisis. We especially want to utilize media to shed light on the realities of the 10 million Overseas Filipino Worker families (OFW) who are in desperate need of healing and guidance, as well as the love of a Savior. You can read some of these stories and hear more about the open doors for APMedia in this edition of Mission, and then go to apmedia.org to watch many more! You can also read about our ministry in the debut edition of Vital Magazine produced by My Healthy Church (vitalmagazine.com). I love the phrase,“Carpe diem.” It simply means, “Seize the day!” You and I can do that. As you invest in APMedia today, you are carrying the gospel message across the Asia Pacific to reach and restore families!
January/February 2015 [3.]
STORIES
“What I missed the most were the times when my children needed to share something with me, but I wasn’t there.” —Arlen Malabad Overseas Filipino Worker
Watch
bit.ly/storiesarlenmalabad
ARLEN’S STORY at: apmedia.org [4.] APMedia MISSION / apmedia.org.
January/February 2015 [5.]
FOCUS
Watch bit.ly/pray4indonesia
PRAY 4 INDONESIA at pray4indonesia.com
INDONESIA UPDATE “The Church, in many areas of Indonesia, coexists in a majority Muslim world. Ministry has to be done very carefully but it is an amazing open door,” —Bill Snider APMedia Director Thank You APMedia Partners for your investment in Indonesia! We have an immediate project need for $6,000 (U.S. dollars) for movie production and distribution. [6.] APMedia MISSION / apmedia.org.
Indonesia is the fourth largest nation in the world. Approximately 80 percent of the country is Muslim and only 6 percent is Christian.There is so much needed and that can be done. In October, I spent time working with a team in Indonesia,which includes Pat and Linda Cochenour, who pioneered radio ministry in the country . For about 20 years, we have been working with radio programming there. Presently, there are four programs in production that air on approximately 80 stations around the country. Amazingly, all of the broadcast airtime is free on both Christianand Muslim-owned radio stations thanks to the APMedia focus on people and the quality of our production work. The programs focus on women, college students and young professionals. Our team has done a very good job of creating content. Follow-up is done primarily through text messaging. As a result of text messaging local believers are able to follow up with individuals. We have also discovered that one of our movies would be well received by those who believe in animism. The script is currently being translated into Bahasa, the main language of Indonesia. The
message of the movie deals with the spirit world and the simple message is that the power of Jesus is stronger than any force or spirit that is in your life. From there, we would be looking for multiple duplication and distribution channels for the movie to be used by Christian groups and churches. We can translate and produce this movie for approximately $3,500 (U.S.). Duplication and distribution costs for the first 1,000 DVDs is around $2,500.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS NEW ENDEAVOR
1. That God will raise up more Christian media producers and videographers in Indonesia who are able to tell the stories of people coming to Christ. 2. For APMedia to raise $6,000 (U.S.) for production and distribution of the movie being dubbed in Bahasa. 3. For ongoing radio ministry. 4. For foundational APMedia funding so we can continue to grow our ministry in Indonesia, and for more workers. Thank you for your support of these strategic opportunities in Indonesia! January/February 2015 [7.]
IMPACT
“[Family] is the unit of trust, the unit dearest to their hearts. So if we can build up families, they can see the relevance of the message of Jesus in their lives.” —Kim Snider MOMS Magazine Editor-in-Chief to Vital Magazine vitalmagazine.com
[8.] APMedia MISSION / apmedia.org.
Watch bit.ly/promohopeforfamily PROMO: HOPE FOR THE FAMILY
at apmedia.org. January/February 2015 [9.]
by Marilyn Luce Robertson
BEHIND THE SCENES Alena Palad For Alena Palad, an audio specialist with Asia Pacific Media, her work is much more than just a job. It’s a calling. We talked with Alena about how she came to work with APMedia, and how her experiences have impacted her life and spiritual journey. APMedia: How did you get involved with APMedia? ALENA: While I was in my fourth year of college, I was already involved in media ministry at church. But, after I graduated, I began working with a friend doing sound systems. At the time, I was praying for God to give me work doing something to go with what I’d already learned, [10.] APMedia MISSION / apmedia.org.
and APMedia was so helpful as I grew as an audio specialist. APMedia: How has working with APMedia impacted your life? ALENA: At my campus in the Philippines, I was not able to learn as much hands on, but with APMedia, I’ve had a lot of great mentors. APMedia helped me see not only ministry inside the church, but also how to reach out more personally. I also love the APMedia daily devotions and prayer time each morning. I’ve seen how our leaders value the importance of offering everything in front of the Lord before the day’s work is started. - continued -
APMedia: What do you look forward to in the future as you work with APMedia? ALENA: Growing in the ministry, I can really understand the value of reaching out to other people. In seeing how APMedia does it, my heart became more interested in doing a different task that would allow me to meet people and lead people to Jesus Christ. It’s so rewarding to work in APMedia, not just with
what I’ve learned in the past years, but even how I’ve been able to grow as a person – in the skills God has gifted me to use. People are still being touched because of the things we’ve been doing, and I believe there are still more lives that will be changed, and that people will be saved. People will know that Jesus loves them through the work they’re doing here at APMedia.
Watch bit.ly/btsalenapalad
Alena’s BEHIND THE SCENES at apmedia.org. January/February 2015 [11.]
STORIES
Watch
bit.ly/storiesprincessramos
PRINCESS RAMOS’ STORY at: apmedia.org by Heather Van Allen
The Heart of MOMS
Princess Ramos’ Story More than 11 years ago, Kim Snider had a dream of creating a magazine targeting Filipino mothers. That dream became reality as MOMS, a quarterly publication designed to strengthen and disciple families with articles that challenge and encourage women with parenting, financial, physical and spiritual help. Now, more than 55,000 free copies get into the hands of readers through churches, women’s prisons, abuse centers, schools, Christian bookstores, convenience stores, doctors’ offices and YWCA centers. Evelyn Damian, an editor at MOMS, explains that the goal is for the magazine to be different from other
women’s publications on the market. “We know that lots of mothers need help, and when we talked about doing MOMS, we decided that we would [include] important issues that commercial women’s magazines don’t publish,” she says. “We’re trying to help our readers shape or incorporate practical Christian principles with their lives.” Princess Ramos is one of those mothers Evelyn is referring to. Also a police officer, she says MOMS has helped her find balance in her life. She is one of the numerous Filipino parents whose occupations, while supplying the necessary income to help support their families, also pull them away from their families for
“We’re trying to help our readers shape or incorporate practical Christian principles with their lives.” —Evelyn Damian
Editor, MOMS Magazine much of their time. “It’s not easy being a working mom, especially for us [Police Officers] who are serving our country,” she says. “It became very difficult to balance my time.”
Evelyn says the true stories that readers—like Princess—can relate to are what makes MOMS such an effective tool for ministry.
The demands of Princess’s job began to put a strain on her relationship with her husband. However, she got help when she ran across an issue of MOMS.
“It is distributed through churches because non-Christians will read it if they get if from their Christian friends,” she says.“That’s why I’m mindful of not wasting the space that we have. I want each page to have scriptural values that can be applied practically to life.”
“I received the answers I needed read an article in the “Make Over to the Max” issue of MOMS Magazine. This article ministered to me. At that time, I was in the camp, and I cried when I read it,” she says.
Princess says she is thankful for the help she got from MOMS Magazine. “This magazine helps the readers have balanced life,” she says, “balance in relationship, family, work, ministry and God.”
Coffee@Home
APMEDIA PARTNER CHALLENGE As the world changes so does our resolve as we find new creative ways to share the power of Christ through all media avenues. And all we are asking YOU to do is partner with us in some way in this great endeavor. Whether God is nudging you to move through prayer or finances, we need your support. Several weeks ago, we asked for 100 people to support APMedia with a commitment of $50 per month—or 50 people committing $100 per month. It is imperative that we have immediate response to this need in order to secure our future. “$50 IS MORE THAN I CAN AFFORD,” YOU SAY What if we challenged you to one month of only drinking coffee at home. What if instead of purchasing your favorite latté each week, you gave that money to APMedia? What if you challenged a friend to do it with you? What if you challenged your small group or your church to do it—for one month? How far could one month of sacrificing some take-out coffee go to cover $5,000 in APMedia operating/training costs? These small sacrifices will help build a stronger foundation to meet the ever-increasing demand, as well as opportunities, to reach the Asia Pacific. Can you imagine the impact for Christ? Can you imagine how your funds would help impact another family or equip another church? SEARCH YOUR HEART—WHAT CAN YOU GIVE? Whether $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 one-time or as a monthly pledge, every $5 will reach and restore a family in crisis in the Asia Pacific. We need partners on all levels to help us offset our monthly $5,000 operational budget that spans across the Asia Pacific to see souls impacted for the kingdom. Is God calling you? Maybe a friend? Take the challenge, and declare it on your social media pages using the link apmedia.org/give, and state it: “I’m having coffee at home in order to give to APMedia.” You’ve seen, witnessed and been challenged—it’s your call!
His Message, Multiplied
HELP REINVEST IN THE FOUNDATION OF APMEDIA FOR THE WORK AHEAD!
[14.] APMedia MISSION / apmedia.org.